Aim for the head, not the heart
by Faterunner
Summary: It had started with a series of short, confusing broadcasts on the news. That had been in the beginning, when no one had truly been able to grasp the severity of the situation. Now, the television shows nothing but static. Not that anyone is watching anymore. They are too busy trying to survive. [Modern AU] [Zombies] [Elsanna]
1. Prologue

**Warning: **This story will contain incest at some point (soon, hopefully), so if that's not your cup of tea, please adhere to the rule _don't like, don't read_.

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**Prologue**

"Yes, Mr. Eriksen. No, that won't be a problem. Of course not, that would be unacceptable– look, why don't we save the details for the meeting? I'm about to cross the city line; I'll be there in a couple of minutes. Yes, that sounds good. Goodbye, Mr. Eriksen."

Elsa sighs as she ends the call with an irritated tap on the earpiece in her ear. Ever since the death of her parents three years prior, the board of directors of her father's company (or _her father's cronies _as she privately liked to call them) had been keen on dragging her back to Arendelle and have her follow in her father's footsteps.

Elsa, who had been studying architecture in Corona for the past three years, had been adamant about getting her bachelor's degree before returning to take over the company. However, after three years without a chief executive officer, the board of directors had gone through the official channels to demand a meeting regarding the company's future and Elsa's role in it.

And that is how she ended up driving all the way from Corona to Arendelle on the second day of her summer break, in her battered, second-hand car whose air conditioning had decided to stop functioning somewhere between the first and second hour of driving. That, coupled with the fact that it was unusually warm for early June, and Elsa's preference for cold weather, had done nothing to shorten the long drive.

Elsa and her father had gotten into many a fight throughout the years over whether or not she would take over the company, or be allowed to pursue a career of her own choosing. At an young age her father had sent her off to a number of different boarding schools, all of which took pride in grooming kids for a future in what was referred to as 'the business life'. He had claimed to only want the best for his daughter, but Elsa had quickly learned that whatever was best for the company unanimously became what was best for her.

Stubborn as she was, Elsa had refused to let her father mold and shape her life as he saw fit to do. Her refusal had resulted in an infinite battle of wills where, admittedly, her father had always had the upper hand, since she – as a minor – had possessed no legal power to go against his decisions. Elsa had done everything she could think of to get in trouble at school, hoping against hope that maybe if she got expelled, they would just send her _home_.

Oh how naïve she had been.

The more rules she broke, the more homework she threw away, and the more pranks she pulled on her teachers, the more control her father exercised over her life. Her visits home became far an in-between, and she was moved from boarding school to boarding school, one stricter than the other.

It had been suffocating and frustrating, but most of all it had been lonely. Estranged and cut off from her family, and constantly moving from one school to another, loneliness had been Elsa's only constant companion. Her mother had done nothing more than beg her to acquiesce with her father's wishes and put an end to their constant fighting, never understanding Elsa's refusal to take over the company, effectively aligning herself with her father in Elsa's eyes.

Her sister... Her sister had been another matter entirely. Elsa and her little sister had been inseparable from the moment they first laid eyes on each other, and not a day had gone by at the Arendelle Manor without the two of them cooking up some sort of mischief. Elsa had never found life dull when in the presence of her sister, and had, as most other children her age, never imagined that those happy days would come to an end, replaced with the harsh reality of growing up.

When she had finally become of legal age, Elsa had enrolled at the first and the best out-of-town university that her scholarships afforded her to. Corona University had been affordable and satisfactorily far away. There had been no doubt in her mind that her decision to leave had been right. But then news of her parents' dead reached her...

Elsa grinds her teeth as the memory pushes its way back to the forefront of her mind. She can't afford such painful memories to resurface right before her meeting with the board of directors. She has to stay calm and focused and-

Lost in her thoughts as she is, Elsa doesn't notice the hunched figure shuffling across the street before it's too late.

There's a loud thud mixed with the sound of screeching tires, splotches of red splashing onto the windshield as the car careens off-road, stopping only when confronted with the solid trunk of an old tree at the edge of the forest lining the road.

It all happens in the blink of an eye, leaving Elsa with little time for anything more than an ineloquent exclamation (one she hasn't used since her early adolescent temper tantrums). Then there is pain, followed swiftly by an all-consuming darkness.

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**Author's notes:** This was a prompt I discovered on tumblr (by _izzyvonheeringen_) that I wanted to try my hand at. I've shipped Elsanna since day one, and I've been meaning to write something for the fandom for a while now, but never got around to do it because, you know, life's a bitch that won't give me a fucking break.

And on _that_ happy note, I hope this was somewhat satisfactory. I have no beta and I suck at going through my own writing to check for mistakes, so I apologize in advance if you come across any. That being said, I plan to make this a multi-chapter story despite having stuck to oneshots so far. Gulp!

As some of you might have noticed, the prologue is loosely inspired by that of The Walking Dead. I've only played that first part of the game though, so that'll be the last of that. I know I make their father out to be some sort of villain, but remember, this is a modern AU, so there has to be a reasonable explanation for Elsa and Anna's separation that doesn't include cool ice powers. I debated on whether or not to let Elsa keep her ice powers in this, but I came to the conclusion that it might make things a bit too easy.

This was pretter short (duh, prologue), so consider it a taste of what's to come!


	2. Chapter 1

**Warning:** Nothing has changed since the last chapter. There will still be incest in this story, and the _don't like, don't read _rule still stands.

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**Chapter 1**

When Elsa opens her eyes again, the world around her is darker, quieter. At first she's not quite sure if she's awake or still imprisoned within the walls of her own consciousness. But the throbbing in her head and the uncomfortable stiffness of her body tells her that she is very much awake.

Upon realizing this, the blonde snaps back into focus, eyes darting back and forth to take in the scene.

She's still in the car, the front of which has now been firmly smashed in as a result of its collision with the tree directly in front of it. Her seatbelt has kept her in place, although it now digs into her skin with a vicious force that is sure to leave a mark or two. Her earpiece is broken in half, probably from when her head had slammed against the now missing window (which would also explain the headache). Elsa winces as she pulls the device off, its small, jagged plastic edges leaving bloody, but shallow, cuts along her jaw in their wake.

The windows on her side of the car has been , and, looking down, Elsa finds the shards of broken glass littering the inside of the car, herself included.

Is that blood on the front windshield?

Oh god, she had hit someone, maybe even _killed_ them. No, no, she has to stay calm. She has to keep a level head and assess the situation, and then, _maybe_ she can allow herself the luxury of panicking. Later.

Conscious of the sharp edges, Elsa brushes the shards off to the best of her ability, trying to recall the last seconds leading up to the crash.

She'd been on her way to Arendelle to meet with the board of directors, and she'd been thinking of her parents' death (Elsa allowW herself two deep breaths before continuing her train of thought) when someone had come walking out into the middle of the road.

Elsa frowns.

She had been close to the city line, yes, but she'd still been a little too far out for anyone to come walking out in front of her without a moment's notice. There were no other settlements within walking distance of Arendelle, and as such, pedestrians kept to the sidewalks _within_ the city walls.

And why was it so quiet?

This road was the only one leading into Arendelle by way of land, though it was nowhere near as busy as the city's harbor, as many travelers (tourists especially) preferred the more majestic view one was treated to when entering the city by sea.

But the road was not so deserted that a traffic incident would go unnoticed. The 'cavalry' should have arrived by now, if not in the form of a police car or an ambulance, then in the form of a concerned passerby on his or her way back from work.

Elsa's frown deepens.

Something is definitely off. A sense of dread pools low in her stomach, and Elsa's hands fly to the latch on her seat belt, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to flee, to run and hide and never come out again-

An animalistic growl stills her frantic motions. It's much too close for comfort.

Wolves? No, they rarely stray to the edge of the forest, and never this close to the city. Then what-

Elsa's thoughts are interrupted as she quite literally comes face-to-face with a horrendous and all-together nauseating sight. There is a loud bump, and then front windshield that had previously been marred by 'just' cracks and bloodstains now shows a horrid visage through the bloodied glass. Elsa could swear it was the very same person that had walked out in front of her car, despite not having gotten a good look at the person's face. But that is simply not possible, because this _face_ is definitely not that of a living human being. Not to mention that a normal human being wouldn't be up and crawling all over the front of her car after being run down at 80 km/h.

The face looks nothing like that of a normal person; the lower part of the face has been all but torn off, except for the mouth which is barely hanging on as it is, and only one eye remains in its socket while the other hangs freely, bouncing with the erratic movements of the head. Blood paints the otherwise dry, pale skin, along with other human fluids that Elsa dare not think of.

When the face leans forward, as if sniffing, Elsa releases the air in her lungs she hadn't known she'd been holding, letting out something in-between a yelp and a shout. It's not as loud as an actual scream, but it nonetheless serves to spur on the _thing_ on the other side of the glass. The growling grows louder, wilder, as bloodied hands start frantically pawing against the already stained glass which groans under the added pressure.

As if coming out of a time bubble, Elsa's heart jump into her throat, hammering with wild abandon as her mind struggles to come to term with the situation in which she finds herself. She needs to get out of there, and fast. Whatever the thing on the other side of the windshiled is, she doesn't want to be there if (more like when) it discovers that the side windows are gone. Though by the sound of its mindless grunting and the creaking of the cracked glass, maybe the windshield would cave before that happened.

Not taking her eyes off the _thing_ in front of her, Elsa blindly gropes for the door handle. The shards of broken glass leave small, angry cuts on her fingers, but she is spurred on by the angry snarling coming from the other side of the windshield, and soon locates the handle. She flings the door open wide and throws herself out of the car with reckless abandon as fear overtakes her.

She's not fast enough to break the fall with her arms. Her knees and elbows are the first parts of her body to acquaint themselves with the hard soil (somehow Elsa had always imagined the forest floor would be soft rather than hard), and the rest of her soon follows their examples, successfully knocking the breath out of her. Gasping, she pulls herself to her feet, swiping a few strands of blonde hair out of her face. Between the accident and her fall, her hair has managed to escape its confinement and now hangs over her shoulder in a loose braid rather than its normal bun.

A growl from behind her sends a shiver down her spine and reminds her of her whereabouts. She doesn't have time to stand around, thinking about her _hair_ of all things.

Without a backwards glance, she sets off toward the general direction of Arendelle. Her feet move on their own accord, carrying her forward at a pace she knows she won't be able to keep up for long. Elsa makes it to the edge of the forest with only a slight cramp in her side, but she stops dead in her tracks before she can get clear of the tree's and the cover they provide.

There are no cars on the road. At least none that are moving. Two cars further down the road looks to have collided with each other, and Elsa can vaguely make out moving silhouettes by the cars. Maybe the crash hadn't been as bad as it looked, and the passengers had gotten away only slightly battered, like her?

Elsa squints, suddenly aware of how dark it has become. How long had she been unconscious?

Wait, are those-

She doesn't have time to finish her thought as a guttural growl sounds to her right, followed by something that sounds disturbingly like slurps and groans of delight. She turns her head slowly, dread gripping her heart like a vice. There's a car parked by the side of the road a few meters to her right, as if the driver had seen the crash and stopped with the intention of helping. The driver hadn't gotten far though. He's still sitting in the driver's seat, but there's someone, no, _something _standing over him, making those awful noises that had caught her attention in the first place.

What is it _doing_?

Elsa stares at the scene, transfixed, for several seconds, before realizing that the wet slurps and tearing noises are the sound of skin being torn from bones before being lapped up by a greedy, bloodied mouth that emits sick groans of pleasure between each mouthful.

It hits her with a force that has her knees buckling and her stomach roiling in protest. That _thing_ is eating the driver. _It _is eating a person, a human being like herself.

Elsa slaps a hand over her mouth as bile rises in her throat, desperately fighting the urge to rid her stomach of its content right there. Her body is shaking so hard it's a wonder that she's managed to stay upright.

She has to get away from the road. The other silhouettes she had spotted must be the same as this _thing_.

Without thinking it through, she turns 180 degrees and runs back in the same direction from where she came. In her state of panic and utter horrification, she has completely forgotten about her previous encounter, and doesn't bother looking where she's putting her feet.

She is caught off-guard when her feet stumbles over something in her path, causing her to lose her footing and fall forward. Her momentum has her rolling around a few times before coming to a full stop. This only serves to fuel the throbbing in her head, the sudden bout of dizziness adding to her nausea.

Suddenly, a hand latches on to the sleeve of her jacket, and Elsa whips her head around to see the grotesque head from when she had awoken in the car. Now that she can see it fully though, she realizes that it's not so much a head as an upper body. The rest of its body is missing from its head down, entrails and other things that Elsa doesn't want to think about trailing behind it like slime after a snail.

A strangled cry escapes her throat as she jerks her arm back. She succeeds in dislodging her assailant, though its nails rake painfully down the inside of her wrist before gravity forces it to let go. Her relief is short-lived however, as it immediately grabs hold of her leg instead, just below the knee.

Elsa scrambles backwards on her elbows, one hand fumbling blindly through the undergrowth in search of something, _anything_ that can be used as a weapon of sorts. Meanwhile the mauled body pushes itself higher up her leg, its blackened teeth clicking in a most disturbing fashion.

Elsa's fingers close around a heavy log in the same instant the head draws back and bares its teeth, readying for a bite, and she strikes, her arm propelled forward by pure instinct. Though she hasn't taken the time to aim, her swing plants the log right in the head's temple, effectively throwing the body off of her and onto the ground with a dull thud.

With baited breath, Elsa watches the trickle of red that drips from the wound (ca it be called that when the 'wounded' technically isn't alive?). Is it over?

With a snarl even more ferocious than before, the thing lifts its head from the ground, eyes boring into her as it reaches out with its arms-

It is instantly quieted as Elsa takes another swing at it with the log, followed by another, then another, and another one...

She loses count after an indefinite number of swings, some primal part of her brain telling her to keep going, to not let up until she's absolutely positive that it won't get up again. So she continues, hit after hit, her arms burning under the weight of the heavy and now blood-stained log.

When she finally lets up, there is little evidence of the bloodied mass in front of her ever having belonged to a human being. Elsa drops the log as if she'd been burned, hands shaking as she takes in the dark, sticky mass that covering them. The shaking spreads to the rest of her body, and her stomach revolts as the bile rises in her throat once again.

Unable to fight off the nausea any longer, she leans sideways, heaving and heaving until there's nothing left in her stomach. Her throat burns and her eyes water, each breath coming in with suddenness as if she doesn't expect the next one to fully enter her lungs.

Her head is a sea of whirling thoughts overlapping each other as they battle to rise to the surface of her mind.

She has just _killed_ a person with her own _bare hands_.

No. No, that wasn't a person. Actually she has _no idea_ what it was, and frankly, she didn't care.

But it had tried to _eat_ her. Just like that other one had been eating that driver by the side of the road.

That could have been her. She could have just as easily been eaten; skin torn from her body in chunks and blood flowing warmly from her veins before she'd even had a chance to open her eyes. It had been pure luck that she had woken up when she did.

A shudder runs down the entire length of her spine, her fingers curling in the dirt.

She needs to get away. As far away as possible.

If it's like this here, it must be even worse in-

Oh.

Elsa's heart clenches painfully as realization hits her.

Arendelle.

The city she grew up in.

The city, whose main (and only) road is riddled with flesh-eating _things_.

The city in which the only person dear to her resides.

Elsa stands, taking a staggering step towards the city of her childhood.

There is only one thought running through her head.

_Anna_.

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**A/N:** FYI, I'm using the metric system as, canonically, Arendelle is located somewhere in northern Europe. If you're not familiar with the metric system, remember, Google is you friend!

That being said, we're finally getting started on the actual plot! Elsa now has some idea of what she's dealing with, and she's on her way to Arendelle in hopes of finding her sister. Now, since you know that this is story is going to feature Elsanna, it shouldn't surprise you when I tell you that, yes, of course Anna is still alive. But finding her might be trickier than Elsa is anticipating (more like hoping for). After all, Anna does have a penchant for having a wonky timing.

Reviews are much appreciated, but likes and follows also warms my heart :)


	3. Chapter 2

**Warning: **Nothing has changed since chapter one. There will still be incest in this story, and the _don't like, don't read_ rule still stands.

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**Chapter 2**

"Kristoff! I know you're in there, so just open up this damn door before I do it for you!"

The words are followed by the sound of loud, continuous banging on wood, a stark contrast to the otherwise silent atmosphere surrounding the small cottage.

There is no answer, however.

The cause of the ruckus lets out an irritated puff of air, crossing her arms - likely to prevent herself from making good on her threat.

Auburn pigtails are flipped over a pair of freckled shoulders with an annoyed shake of the head, as the girl, whose name is Anna, stalks around the side of the cottage. She finds the garage empty which only fuels her annoyance. Kristoff is always giving her grief for showing up late, and now that she finally shows up on time, he doesn't even have the decency to be there to witness it.

To make matters worse, she had been unable to get a ride from Kai or Gerda as per usual. For some reason or other (they had been unwilling to share said reason when she'd asked about it) they had business preparations to take care of in the town center – whatever that meant.

Anna tries (rather successfully) to stay out of anything even remotely related to the family business, afraid that she'll be asked to take over in the absence of the actual heir.

All of which had resulted in an excruciatingly long and steep bike ride during the warmest time of the day. Anna curses Kristoff and his love for nature for the umpteenth time. His inability to rent a room or an apartment down in Arendelle like a normal guy continues to confound her.

He simply had to choose a small cottage at the very edge of town, halfway up a mountain, and now Anna has to risk drowning in her own perspiration every time she visits.

Kristoff is far from sympathetic though, as he hasn't had to trouble himself with the laborious job of riding a bike up the steep hill to his home. At least not yet. More often than not Anna finds herself wishing for his precious car (his one true love) to break down, if only so he could know her pain and stop pestering her about getting her driver's license.

Reminded of her exertions, Anna lifts her shirt slightly, letting what little breeze there is caress her sweaty skin. The warm air does little to cool her off, but it does make it feel less like she's about to drown, as well as alert her to her dry throat which now feels much like a desert had taken up residence there.

"Guess you weren't in there after all," she mutters at the empty cottage when she once again stands before the front door, giving it a small glare just for good measure.

For a moment she stands before the door, trying to figure out what her next move is.

Then a figurative light bulb lights up over her head.

Of course! The spare key!

Anna slaps her forehead with her hand, the fact that she knew the location of said key having completely slipped her mind during her moment of self-pity.

If Kristoff is going to be late, she might as well make herself comfortable while she waits for him to grace her with his presence. Oh, and she can search for his hidden stash of chocolate which she, after three years of being best friends and spending nearly all her free time at his place, has yet to locate. And she won't even have to be discreet about it this time.

And if she finds it, well, Anna figures she'll let herself have one piece for every minute of tardiness on Kristoff's behalf.

Humming to herself at this pleasant thought, Anna retrieves the spare key from beneath the reindeer-shaped doorstopper that Kristoff insists on planting outside (despite the front door opening inward rather than outward) and lets herself in.

Thankfully, it is slightly cooler inside. Seeing how the cottage only consists of one big room and an adjoining bathroom, Anna need only take two steps to enter the small kitchenette, three to reach the fridge. She is disappointed, albeit hardly surprised, to find it devoid of content save from a suspiciously foul-smelling carton of milk and a few meager pastry toppings (carrots not included).

Anna closes the door with a sigh, opting instead to grab a glass and fill it with tap-water. She drains it in all but two seconds and instantly refills it. She repeats this four times before finally putting down the glass, her parched throat sufficiently moistened at the cost of her now bloated stomach.

She glances around the room affectionately, eyes taking in the familiar surroundings. As her gaze lands on the bed and the reindeer-themed bed linen, she feels tiredness settle in her muscles. She flops onto the bed unceremoniously, rolling onto her back and staring up at the wooden ceiling that has become more familiar to her than her own after countless of sleepovers. The first time she had spent the night, Kristoff had pointed out how she had literally spent the night _in his bed_; a comment that promptly earned him a punch to the shoulder and a pair of reddened cheeks.

Over the years, Anna had taken to spending most of her free time at Kristoff's place. She enjoyed the cozy feel of the small cottage as opposed to the big halls of her family's manor whose emptiness only served to remind her of the ones who used to walk the halls with her. With Kristoff things were simple and easy.

They had met after Anna had been admitted to Arendelle High during her sophomore year. Anna had been home schooled her entire life at her father's behest and had seldom been allowed to leave the protective walls of the family manor, thus leaving her with only portraits and old suits of armor as her only friends. When her parents had... died, Anna had instructed Kai to enroll her at the local high school in hopes of putting an end to her solitude.

She hadn't taken into account how hard it would be to start in the middle of the year. Arendelle's population was rather small (at least for a town with such a multitude of successful businesses), and as such the town had adopted that small-town mentality where everyone knew everyone; a mentality that was very much applicable to the younger generation. This also meant that her parents' accident was common knowledge among the other students which had resulted in an abundance of pitying glances and no one daring to approach her.

The thought leaves a bitter taste in her mouth. It's been three years since her parents' passing, but the wound still feels open and raw. So many years spent only in the company of her parents, and then, to suddenly having them torn away...

And just like that, Anna finds that she's no longer annoyed at Kristoff. So what if he's gotten held up at work? He's been there for her almost every day since they met, and that is more than what can be said about her remaining relative.

Her sister. Who didn't even show up for the funeral.

With a violent shake of her head, Anna banishes the depressing thoughts from her mind. She has long since learned to live in the present and only focus on the here and now. Besides, her high school experience hasn't been an all-together bad one.

She had joined the soccer team in an effort to make friends, and it had helped, albeit only slightly. When they were on the field, kicking the ball back and forth, she was one of them, but as soon as they were off the field they were back to treating her as if she was the carrier of some contagious disease.

Her knight in shining armor had come in the form of Kristoff Bjorgman, a sassy but sweet blonde who had plopped down beside her one day during lunch. Kristoff's lone wolf attitude and Anna's social awkwardness had resulted in a somewhat tumultuous start to their friendship, but once that was out of the way, they had found that they had quite a bit in common. They both enjoyed the same lame sitcoms, both devoured their food with equal intensity, both appreciated the outdoors, and most importantly, both were equally socially awkward. Anna, due to her years of reclusion, Kristoff, due to his years of loneliness at the orphanage where he'd grown up. There hadn't been many kids, he had once explained to Anna, and no one seemed to want to adopt any of them. Needless to say, Kristoff had found a place of his own as soon as he was able.

He was one year her senior, but they had made a promise to start university together (Kristoff had wanted time to save up money for it anway), and thus he had spent the past year working at the local ice cream parlor while she finished her senior year. School had been rather lonely without Kristoff there, but he made up for it by sometimes stopping by during lunch to give her ice cream. Thankfully high school (and all the gossiping that came with attending) was now behind her.

Anna knew that everyone else thought of them as a couple, but she had never truly been able to associate that particular word with Kristoff and hers relationship.

They shared a close friendship, that was for sure, but she had never considered Kristoff boyfriend-material. Maybe it was because she knew so many personal details about him, like how he picked his nose _and ate it_. Even now, Anna finds herself shuddering at the thought.

But maybe, given more time, their relationship could evolve into something more on its own accord.

Anna closes her eyes and shakes her head at the unexpected turn her thoughts had taken. She doesn't know whether their relationship has more potential or not, and she isn't in a hurry to find out. She is content with her life as it is now.

Now if he would just hurry up and return from wherever he had gone off to, they could... order some pizza... watch scary movies... yeah...

When she opens her eyes again, she's laying face-down on the mattress, limbs sprawled haphazardly about her. She groans, forcing herself into a sitting position before stretching in an attempt to rid herself of the stiffness that has settled in her body during her nap.

Wait, nap?

Anna turns to look at the clock on the bedside table and is alarmed to find that she's been asleep for a good two hours. She scans the room, unable to find any evidence of Kristoff having returned. A pang of uneasiness urges her to her feet.

She paces about the room, absentmindedly noting that she's forgotten to search for his chocolate stash.

Where the heck is he? And why has he not returned yet? He was the one to suggest that she stop by after her rock climbing session, so why is he even gone in the first place?

She's in the middle of fishing out her phone, mentally preparing to chew out the blond, when she spots the note left on the kitchen counter. She rushes over to it, internally slapping herself senseless for not spotting it earlier when she had entered. She could have saved herself _two freaking hours_ if she hadn't been so busy rummaging through the fridge.

_Hey Anna banana,_

_Sven found some odd tracks and a trail of blood in the forest last night, so I figured I'd better look into it. I should be back before you get here, but if not, just help yourself to whatever you want while you wait._

At this, Anna snorts, because that is somewhat difficult to do when the fridge is practically empty. Or maybe he had planned for it, just to spite her.

_Or, you could come meet me at Oaken's and we'll make a day out of it. Knowing you, you won't be able to stay still for long anyway._

_Kristoff out!_

Anna worries her lower lip between her teeth as a bout of concern washes over her. The note doesn't say anything about when he had gone, but surely it can't take more than an hour or two to check out some tracks and a few drops of blood? Sven, his German Shepherd, is, after all, excellent at tracking.

He can't have left in the morning, since he's taken into account that she might arrive before his return. Maybe something has gone wrong?

That is the only logical explanation for his taking so long. After all, he knows the North mountain like his own back pocket.

Kristoff had spent a lot of time in the mountains and the surrounding forests, what with his combined interest in wildlife and nature. He had obtained his hunting license at age sixteen, and often attempted to drag Anna with him when he went hunting. Anna had acquiesced once, after which she had decided that she liked live animals better than dead ones. Since that fateful day she had refused to accompany him if it in any way involved shooting and/or setting up traps.

Yes, something must have gone wrong.

Or maybe this is all just a trick to get her to come to Oaken's, and Kristoff was currently questioning the existence of her brain cells because it was taking her so damn long to figure it out.

Anna's eyes narrows as the thought settles in her mind.

It would be just like Kristoff to pull something like that on her, all for the sake of obtaining leverage against her to use at a later date; preferably whenever he questions her intelligence which, irritatingly enough, he does quite often.

And just like that, Kristoff Bjorgman is out of her good graces once more.

Anna exits the cottage with a huff of annoyance, slamming the door on her way out. Only afterwards does she remember that the spare key is still inside, laying on the kitchen table where she left it. She slaps herself again, this time physically. Obviously mental slaps have no correctional function whatsoever or else her stupidity simply knows no bounds.

She turns around, deciding that it's all Kristoff's fault for setting up this elaborate ruse merely to trick her into looking stupid. Now Kristoff can use this incident with the key against her too. Speaking of Kristoff... She fishes her phone out of her pocket, dialing his number from memory rather than taking the time to scroll through her contacts.

It rings once, twice, and then... voicemail.

Stubborn as she is, Anna repeats this same procedure seven times before admitting defeat. The phone is unceremoniously shoved back in its pocket, as if it is conspiring against her.

She paces back and forth in front of the small cottage for a while, debating her next move. She can either give in and go find Kristoff at Oaken's and put up with his smug gloating, or she can grab her bike and leave the way she came. If she leaves, however, her hard work (i.e. the torturous bike ride) will be a wasted effort, and she can probably guilt Kristoff into buying her dinner at Oaken's if she exaggerates and makes her bike ride sound extra painful.

Turning her back on the cottage, Anna takes a moment to enjoy the view (or maybe just for the same of putting off another trip up the mountain by bike).

Down below lays Arendelle, her childhood town and the only home she's ever known. She knows that many people her age leaves immediately after finishing high school (her _sister_ being a good example- no, don't go there), but Anna has never quite warmed to the thought of leaving.

It might be small and it might be secluded, but Arendelle is where her life is and has always been. All of her memories are here, both the good ones and the bad ones.

Okay, mostly bad ones, but she is slowly changing that. One step at a time.

From this vantage point the town seems distant, as if the multitude of trees between here and there are a sea one would have to cross in order to reach civilization; just like Kristoff prefers it.

The town could be overrun by a horde of rabid dogs without anyone up here being the wiser.

With this cherry thought in mind, Anna mounts her bike and heads up the mountain.

The road gets slightly steeper the further up the mountain she gets, and Anna soon finds herself drenched in sweat once more.

She's lucky that it's the middle of summer and Arendelle is so far north; otherwise the sun would have already retired for the day. As it is now, the sun hangs low on the horizon, yet still manages to cast a soft glow over the land.

Oaken's is not too far up the mountain, but then again, Anna has never gone there by bike before, and knowing her luck, her estimate is most likely completely off.

Not only will Kristoff be able to tease her for her lack of brain cells once she gets there, but also for her lack of fitness. Sure she's more active than he, but logic has never mattered much to the blonde when it came to teasing her.

As keeping the wheels continuously turning becomes harder, Anna tries to distract her mind by thinking up ways for Kristoff to repay her for all her troubles.

It works very well too, because Anna is so busy picturing Kristoff slaving away in the kitchen with chocolate smeared all over, that she doesn't spot his truck before she's right beside it. She slams on the brakes, coming to a screeching halt just slightly ahead of it.

The truck is parked neatly by the side of the road (Kristoff had always been a very proper driver, much to Anna's frustration), and by the looks of it, Kristoff is nowhere to be seen.

Anna's brows knit together in confusion at this. She might not be that good at determining how far point A is from point B, but even she can tell that she's only halfway to Oaken's – at the most.

She dismounts her bike, letting it fall to the ground without as much a glance, as she walks over to inspect the truck. The doors are locked, and there is no Sven inside, meaning that Kristoff is still somewhere in the surrounding forest. But hadn't that excuse about 'odd tracks and trail of blood' been just that - an excuse to get her up to Oaken's?

The uneasy feeling returns with a vengeance, causing Anna to briefly clutch at her stomach. The more she stares at the vacant truck, the more the feeling intensifies.

No, he has probably just gotten caught up with fixing and setting up new traps or whatever.

There is nothing to worry about out here. Except for the wolves, but they mostly keep to the undisturbed areas of the forest further up the mountain.

Keeping this thought at the forefront of her mind, Anna heads in between the trees, her strides long and resolute.

Usually she's all for trusting her gut instincts, but this time she's adamant in proving it wrong.

Finally, after walking for what feels like an eternity, she spots Kristoff further ahead. He's kneeling, bending over an unmoving animal on the forest floor.

When Anna reaches the edge of the clearing, it becomes clear to her that the animal on the ground is Sven. Her eyes widen and all the irritation she's stored up for Kristoff during the last few hours evaporate into thin air, replaced by an overwhelming wave of empathy.

Sven had been at Kristoff's side for as long as Anna had known him, and, as far as Anna had gathered, many more years before that. If something has happened to him...

Anna doesn't finish the thought. Instead, she calls out to the blonde, legs propelling her forward.

The blonde doesn't seem to register her outburst. He's bent so far forward, his head bobbing up and down over the still form of his canine companion.

"Kristoff"

She drops to her knees beside him, and this time he hears her.

His head turns to face hers.

The first thing Anna registers is that the man facing her isn't Kristoff.

The second thing is the blood and entrails hanging from bloody jaws.

The third thing is the _thing_ lunging at her with a vicious growl.

Anna closes her eyes.

Then the sound of a gun firing reverberates in her ears.

* * *

**Author's note: **I'm pleasantly surprised by how many of you have either commented, favorited or followed. So this chapter is sort of like a thank you, I guess.

So, I want to try and alternate between Elsa's POV and Anna's POV every chapter. It'll make it easier for me to fill you guys in on their background and such, not to mention it'll give me more ways to approach their relationship. And also because I just love alternating POVs. So there's that, too.

That being said, how did this chapter feel compared to the last one? Because this is written from Anna's perspective, and I feel like writing Elsa's POV comes easier to me since I can better empathize with her. Or maybe I just prefer writing more action-oriented chapters?

easier to me than Anna's, but maybe that's because this chapter was pretty uneventful compared to Elsa's, and I prefer writing more action-oriented chapters? Dunno. Let me know what you think!

FYI, I wrote the majority of this chapter while recovering from last night's consumption of alcoholic beverages and excessive dancing, so please forgive whatever mispellings or grammatical errors you might have encountered. Also, I am notoriously bad at beta-reading my own works, so yeah.


	4. Chapter 3

**Warning:** Nothing has changed since chapter one. There will still be incest in this story, and the _don't like, don't read _rule still stands.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

The trip into town is a nerve-wracking one.

Elsa has no idea if there are any more of those things in the forest, but she's not about to take any chances after that last encounter, and thus she spends the majority of her time crouched close to the ground, eyes darting left and right, back and forth.

The wound from earlier has started to throb; the inside of her right wrist feels entirely too warm. But she can't do anything about it as it is now.

The forest along the road isn't dense by any means, but the trees are as much a hindrance to her as they are a cover.

She's constantly expecting another half-human (Elsa has given calling them any one thing) to jump out from behind the next tree.

But, against all odds, fear is her only companion during the trek to Arendelle.

When she spots the first house at the edge of the forest, Elsa breathes in deeply before rising from her crouched position behind the tree nearest to the house.

Her leg muscles almost sigh with relief at her once more upright position.

_Anna._

The name flashes through her mind like lightning, and Elsa's heart clenches painfully at the reminder as a new wave of worry washes over her.

She needs to find Anna.

Now.

Before something bad can happen.

If it hasn't already.

Elsa pinches her upper arm through her shirt, twisting the skin there for good measure. She can't afford that kind of thinking now.

She needs to find Anna, but in order to do that she needs to locate her first.

Elsa fumbles around in her pocket for her phone, before the sting in her left cheek reminds her that she had been wearing her headpiece prior to the crash, meaning her phone had been in its holder rather than her pocket. She hadn't thought to retrieve it before her trek through the woods.

Actually, she hadn't thought to bring anything with her. Elsa wants to scream at herself for her stupidity as she realizes that her only possessions are the crumpled and blood-stained items of clothing that currently covers her body. A far cry from the ideal survival kit.

She's suddenly hit by the ridiculousness of her decision. She had stormed off with the intent of finding Anna, thinking it would be a matter of simply heading into town, fetching her and then backpedalling the way she came.

She hadn't spared one thought to the possibility that there might be more of those flesh-eating creatures littering the town. How would she defend herself against them with nothing but her bare hands? How would she travel across Arendelle without running into a whole group of them? How long would it take to reach Anna, and how would she get by until then? Hell, how would she get by _after_ she found her (because she _would_)?

Steeling herself, Elsa fixes her gaze on the nearest house whose front faces the road leading into Arendelle. As far as she can tell there are only two shambling figures in sight, both facing away from her. If she's quiet, she can sneak around to the back of the house and enter unseen to search for a phone and whatever else that might prove useful.

She leaves her hiding place behind the wooden trunk, sprinting the short distance to the outer wall of the house. It's a good thing she decided to wear with sneakers for maximum comfort for the long car ride here; if not, she might possibly have tripped over that particular uneven patch of grass closest to the house.

She edges along the wall to the back of the house, relieved when she spots a back door and finds the backyard empty. Only when her hand grips the doorknob does she realize that the house might not be as desolate as its surroundings. She fights down the urge to flee, instead forcing her hand to press downward until the door opens outward with a small creak.

As she peers inside, Elsa thanks whatever Gods her ancestors might have worshipped for the door being unlocked as well as it still being daytime. The light filtering in through the windows enables her to make quick work of scanning the room which, much to her relief, turns out to be empty.

She locks the door behind her and steps forward into what can only be the kitchen. The floorboards creak, and Elsa's heartbeat spikes as she's reminded that she can't let her guard down before she's checked the rest of the house.

With this thought in mind, she pulls open one of the drawers and extracts a kitchen knife. It feels heavy and foreign in her hands the way she holds it; the blade pointing downward, ready to strike down foes rather than cut through meat.

Her heart feels as if it has fled her chest and sought refuge in her throat. It pounds away while she checks room after room.

Living room, clear.

Bathroom, clear.

Bedroom, clear.

Kid's room, clear.

She exhales deeply after the last room is found empty, a fraction of her tension exiting her body with the air leaving her lungs. She feels as though she has just run a marathon.

As her heartbeat slows slightly, Elsa is made aware of another pounding in her body. More specifically, the one coming from her wrist.

Now that she has the time to, she pulls up her sleeve to inspect the wound.

It consists of a pair of thin scratches, one longer than the other. The skin around it is colored an angry red, and there is fresh blood dripping from the biggest scratch while the blood from the smaller one has now dried. It doesn't look deep or in any way serious, but the throbbing tells another story.

The thing that scratched her, the one she killed... it had been quite dirty. Maybe the wound had already gotten infected.

Elsa rummages through the bathroom and living room in search of a first aid kit and some liquor. She only succeeds in procuring the liquor though, leading her to wonder what kind of sane family would choose not to have a first aid kit in their house. To make up for her lack of bandages, she finds a white tee which she cuts into strips.

The alcohol stings horribly (maybe she shouldn't have just poured it all over her arm like that), and tying the strips in place is a hard feat to manage with only one hand, but afterwards the throbbing has subsided enough for her to focus on her main objective: locating her sister.

Anna, her beloved little sister whom she had been forbidden from seeing for ten years. Elsa will never be able to forgive their father for separating them. He had used Anna as leverage against her, forcing her to make an impossible choice. Whenever she accused him of such, he had given her an unsympathetic look, telling her that she could see her sister whenever she pleased. If she stopped struggling, that was, and accepted her position as heir of the family business.

Even today the memories put a scowl on her face.

How could a man that had called himself a father, forced her into choosing between freedom and her sister?

The throbbing in her hand resumes as her rage builds. Elsa clenches her hands until her fingers leave crescent-shaped indents in her palms as she breathes in and out.

It works and her heart rate calms.

She heads into the bedroom where she'd spotted a telephone, knowing there is only one way to truly alleviate all her pent-up anger from the past thirteen years.

The telephone is an old model, but it's functional and that's all Elsa cares about. She picks up the receiver and dials the number to the Arendelle manor from memory. It has literally branded itself on the inside of her skull after so many years of dialing it, but never having the courage to press call.

At first there is only silence, but after a few seconds of waiting with bated breath, Elsa is rewarded with a series of noises in the background.

"Hello? Gerda? Kai? Can you hear me?"

There's a lull in the noise, followed by the sound of heavy breathing.

"Miss Elsa, is that you?" Kai's voice is hushed, afraid.

"Yes, yes, it's me. I'm at the edge of town-"

"Please, Miss Elsa, you have to leave," there's a crashing sound in the background. "Now!"

"No, wait, I need to-"

"You can still get away if you-"

"_I need to find Anna_," Elsa grounds out, desperation leaking into her voice. "Do you know where she is?"

"She-" more noises, this time louder. "Not here... Kristoff... far from... mountain... have to go-"

Half of Kai's sentence is lost in the sea of noises that have now grown too loud to ignore. A bloodcurdling scream sounds in the background (Elsa recognizes the vocal chords as belonging to Gerda), and Elsa barely catches Kai's exclamation of horror before the line goes dead.

Panic settles like lead in her stomach, her knees buckling as she drops to the floor.

"No. No, no, no, no."

She's shaking, hands curling into fists against the wooden floorboards. Her eyes grow uncomfortably warm and she clenches them tightly shut, knowing that she won't be able to quieten her sobs if she lets her tears escape their confines.

Kai and Gerda, the caring old couple who had been with her family for as long as she could remember. The ones who had cleaned her cuts and scrapes as a kid, who had sent her letters detailing Anna's adventures during her years of exile, who had comforted her at the news of her parents death and pleaded with her to return home with them...

An anguished sound escapes her lips, and Elsa bites down hard on the soft skin.

Quiet. She needs to be quiet.

A shadow flickers by in the doorway accompanied by the sound of footsteps. Elsa's breath hitches in her throat, and she fumbles for the kitchen knife that she had abandoned on the floor earlier. Her fingers are the first to come in contact with the blade, and she hisses quietly at the small cut, before finally getting a firm grip around the handle.

"Who's there?"

She hopes her voice sounds firmer than it does to her own ears. She doesn't move from her spot by the telephone at the opposite end of the room, eyes watching the door intently as her fingers tighten around the knife.

She watches with surprise as a head peeks forth from the other side of the door, before a small body follows it.

Before her stands a small girl, black hair pulled up in a high pony tail with the help of a pink bow and brown eyes peering intently at her from beneath her tussled bangs. Her teal-colored clothes have mud- and grass stains on them, and her leggings are torn at her knees.

Elsa's grip on the knife slackens a little, but it remains in place.

"Schweetz. Vanellope von Schweetz," the girl's voice only wavers a little despite her knees clacking together with her every tremble. "Who are _you_?"

If not for their situation, Elsa would have laughed at the comical sight of Vanellope crossing her arms and puffing out her cheeks in an attempt to look fierce; the result closely resembles that of an angry chipmunk.

"My name is Elsa."

She doesn't have any idea of what else to say. What do you say to someone, a kid especially, while the world you've known crumbles around you?

Why did it have to be a kid? She's not good with kids _at all._

Silence reigns as Elsa tries (unsuccessfully) to think of something to say, and the raven-haired girl looks her up and down as if evaluating her. Finally, those brown eyes come to rest on the knife still clutched in her hand.

"Hm, I guess you'll do," the words are muttered, but Elsa hears them all the same after the long silence.

"Excuse me?"

Noticing that Vanellope is still eyeing the knife in her hand, she moves as if to put it down, but the girl immediately stops her.

"No, no! Keep it, we'll need it. Hopefully we won't, but you never know, it might come in handy. I've already planned out the route, we just need to-"

"Wait, slow down," Elsa holds up the hand that isn't clutching the knife. "What are you babbling on about? What route? And why are we going to need the knife?"

"Because of those walkers outside, duh," Vanellope's sassy remark is accompanied by a perfect eye roll. "And we're going to the ice cream store. I know this shortcut that will take us almost directly there. All we need is-"

"Shut up!"

Elsa doesn't realize how loud her exclamation had been before she sees the shocked expression on Vanellope's face. Like a kicked puppy, she notes with a wince.

Nope, definitely not good with kids.

"Sorry, just... slow down a little bit," her words are softly spoken, as if she's talking to a frightened animal. "Why do you need to go to the ice cream store, and why do you want me to accompany you?"

Surely the girl isn't expecting her to risk her life for the sake of a cone of ice.

"You could have just asked, geez," comes the feisty retort, effectively ruining the frightened animal analogy.

She leaves the doorway and takes three small steps into the room.

"Firstly, I need to go there because that's where my big brother works. Secondly, I'm not going there alone with all those undead things walking around outside. Thirdly, I'm a kid and you're an adult, so you have to be responsible and help me."

The raven-haired girl delivers the last sentence with a smirk, well aware that few adults can say no to helping a child in need.

Uneasiness fills Elsa's stomach, the sound of Gerda's bloodcurdling scream and Kai's horrified shout still fresh on her mind. She desperately needs to find Anna, and soon, before the unthinkable happens.

But then she looks into those brown eyes staring expectantly at her from across the room, and she realizes that the small girl is in much the same position as herself, except for their roles being reversed.

If Anna were in the same predicament, Elsa would want someone to help her if they were given the chance. She couldn't leave a little girl to fend for herself out here. But still, every second she spent not searching was another second she was delayed in finding Anna...

"Vanellope, I want to help you, I do, but-"

"_But! _That's what _all_ adults say when they're about to say no. They sugarcoat it and try to spoon-feed it to you, but in the end they're still saying no," her small hands are balled up into fists and shaking, her eyes glistening. "_You can't just leave me here!_"

Elsa visibly flinches at girl's accusatory glare and shouted words.

"I'm not saying no," Elsa says hurriedly, the words almost tumbling out of her mouth faster than she can put them in order. "I have a sister too, but I don't know where she is, and I... I really need to find her."

"Oh," the look of anger and betrayal drops from Vanellope's face instantly, and she takes a few steps closer. "Why didn't you just say so!"

Elsa just lifts her right shoulder in a weak shrug. She's not exactly feeling all that clearheaded at the moment, and worry still gnaws away at her frayed emotions. By the look of it, Vanellope has yet to experience the full horror of the undead (as she had so called them).

"Well, Ralph – that's my brother's name, by the way – knows a lot of the people here. Mostly the ones who likes ice cream, but I mean, who doesn't like-" Elsa must have looked quite distressed, for one look at her has Vanellope back on track once more. "What I mean is, maybe he knows where she is, or maybe he can point you in the right direction."

"That would be great," Elsa gives a small, but unconvinced smile.

"And if he doesn't know anything, then maybe Kristoff can help. He works there too."

_Not here... Kristoff... far from... mountain... have to go-_

The words slice through Elsa's head like a sword, and her heartbeat instantly picks up its pace inside her chest.

Kristoff. Kai mentioned the name Kristoff. Wherever Anna is, it has something to do with that name and its owner.

"Wait, did you say-"

"What?"

"N-never mind. I'll take you."

"You will?" brown eyes stare at her with something akin to disbelief before it's overwritten with glee and relief. "Yes! Let's go!"

Elsa barely has time to register the warmth of the small hand that grips hers, before she is pulled from the room. Her mind is elsewhere.

_Anna, I'm going to find you._

_Wait for me._

_Please._

* * *

**Author's note:** Sorry for the delay, school and work teamed up and decided to conspire against my free time together. I admit they're a force to be reckoned with.

Again, no beta, so the mistakes are entirely my own. I'd also like to thank you guys for the faves, follows and reviews. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside


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